Becoming a true impact player in the MLB is a tough task to say the least. Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury and B.J. Upton are all great building blocks for their team, but who's next. True to my roots in minor league fan-hood I'll give YET ANOTHER LIST of the top, future impact players. Some are absolute saviors, other are just high end all stars.
1. Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles (A)- Yes, Wieters again and again. Definitely the most valuable player on the Orioles before he's even had an at bat in 2009. Like Joe Mauer is El Capitan of the Twins, Wieters will lead the Orioles to a decent record. There's absolutely no flaws in his game--even his speed is decent for a catcher. He makes contact at the best rate in the minors, with only Brett Wallace and Buster Posey rivaling him. He's a super duper prospect, and through 437 career at bats his numbers have been absolutely insane: .354, 454 obp, .600 slg and 1054 OPS. Like Mauer, Wieters' defense is also a plus-plus asset.
2. Travis Snider, LF/1B, Toronto Blue Jays (B+)- Snider is exaclty what the Blue Jays need. In 2008 the Jays couldn't buy runs with guys like Rod Barajas and Marco Scutaro getting regular at bats. But now with Snider and Lind pairing up with Rios and Wells, they don't look half bad. Snider is the power bat thatg the Jays are dying for, his .513 career slugging percentage and his .300 career batting average (in the minors and majors) are of infinite importance to Ricciardi's ball club. Bad timing has once again killed the Jays though. After the emergence of Jesse Litsch and Carlson they've taken two steps back losing Marcum and McGowan.
3. David Price, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays (B+)- I'd personally slot price in at closer, but the Rays seem intent on clearing a spot for him in the rotation. Niemann and Hammel are both out of options so it would be wise to start either of them and save Price for the empty Closer's spot. Anyway, Price is a very good pitcher. A Chamberlain slider, and a 94 mph cutting fastball are all he needs and uses. It'd be nice if he could get another pitch but if Kaz can survive on his two then Price can definitely on his two as well. If he's in the rotation, the Rays overtake the Yankees for best rotation in the AL. If he's in the bullpen the Rays beat out the Angels and Red Sox for best bullpen. Take your fuck'n pick you lucky bastards.
4. Trevor Cahill, SP, Oakland Athletics (B+)- The Athletics have a staff leader on their hands in Cahill. With such a young rotation featuring Gallagher, Eveland, Braden and Duchscherer, Cahill will provide the ace stuff they need. His hard, heavy, sinking fastball is one of the best in the minors, even over Volstad's. He has good finesse and is super polished. Through 238 innings pitched in his career, a Sabathia full-season, Cahill is 22-9 with a 2.68 era and 264 k's. For a sinkerballer he clearly strikes a lot of guys out. Think baby Brandon Webb.
5. Derek Holland, LHP, Texas Rangers (B+)- The Rangers are in serious need of starting pitching, especially with the recent implosion of "Feldman" in spring training. Holland is their savior and paired with Feliz the Rangers suddenly have a scary trio between Holland, Feliz and McCarthy. In four games started in the heavily-hitter-friendly Texas League in 2008, Holland pitched 26 innings with a .69 era and 29 k's verses only 14 hits and 6 walks. Yeehaw.
6. Chris Tillman, SP, Baltimore Orioles (B)- Tillman really caught fire in 2008 in AA. He threw 135 innings with a 3.18 era and 154 strikeouts. His stuff is good and the Orioles need an anchor to their rotation, badly. As of now the only other Orioles with decent stuff that are starting in 2008 are Guthrie and Albers, and neither make hitters shake in their booties. Arrieta is on his way as well.
7. Jhoulys Chacin, SP, Colorado Rockies (B)- The Rockies were just starting to develop a pretty sweet staff when Francis announced that he'll be lost for a year with the dreaded "shoulder surgery." Chacin has sparkling numbers in the minor leagues and through 44 games started he has gone 24-8 with a 2.41 era. There's no doubt that his era will shoot up at least a point in Colorado, but pair him with De La Rosa and Ubaldo Jimenez and you suddenly have a rotation in the Mountains.
8. Neftali Feliz, SP, Texas Rangers (A-)- Like Holland Feliz is extremely valuable to the Rangers. Perhaps stupidly, the Rangers have traded away their aces as if they had AIDS. Volquez, Danks and Galarraga have all been nasty with their respective teams. They'll hold on to Feliz. His heater is 94-100 mph and he's struck out an insane 250 guys in a career 198 ip while posting a 2.86 era. He spent 45 innings in 2008 pitching for the Texas League and posted a 2.98 era there--another nice sign for the Rangers.
9. Pablo Sandoval, CI/C, San Francisco Giants (B+)- Sandoval, brother of Angels' prospect Freddie Sandoval, wasn't really a top prospect before his breakout campaign between AAA and the MLB in 2008. Like the Jays the Giants are in absolutely dire straights offensively. Their friggin' OPS leader in '08 was Fred effing Lewis! Sandoval needs more patience but he's a career .303 hitter in the MiLB and a .345 hitter in the MLB. In 2008, at four different stops between the high minors and the Majors, Sandoval didn't post a batting average below .337. With Ishikawa at first and Molina/Posey locked in at catcher there's no telling where he'll play in 2008, but they'll definitely find a spot for the guy.
10. Jordan Zimmerman, SP, Washington Nationals, (B+)- The Nationals had arguably the worst rotation in the majors--maybe tied with Texas--in 2008. With Detwiler, Balester, Zimmerman and Lannan they plan to fix that. Zimmerman is 15-5 with a career 2.75 era in 187 innings pitched in the minors. He has ace stuff and has overtaken Detwiler as the Natties' top prospect. Both are superb athletes and once they work out some kinds in the deliveries, especially Detwiler, they'll anchor the Nats' pitching staff.
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